NEW ORLEANS – Full STEAM Ahead: The NOCCA Sciences Pop-Up Museum, sponsored by Chevron, will be stationed Friday, March 31, at the Chevron Forum at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), 2800 Chartres St., from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
NOCCA’s full-day academic program, the Academic Studio, presents Full STEAM Ahead, a morning of hands-on, interactive activities and experiments in science, technology, engineering, art and math for 5th and 6th grade students and their teachers that will fill Solomon Family Hall and the math/ science labs in the Chevron Forum at NOCCA.
The inaugural Pop-Up Museum is designed to help youth to explore the fun, beauty and creativity in math and science.
Experiments and exhibits will be led by NOCCA’s students and faculty based on projects they have conducted throughout the year in the Academic Studio’s Integrated Sciences program, an innovative approach to teaching high school science and math launched at NOCCA six years ago.
They will be joined by Chevron volunteer engineers and scientists in engaging invited middle school students with quick and fun science and math Stop-By Stations as well as more intensive In-Depth Depots. Participating teachers will be provided with a lesson plan packet of projects that can be done in any classroom.
Stations and Depots will include:
• Geology Sandbox: Build mountains, valleys and streams in an augmented reality sandtable
• DJ For a Day: Investigate the physics of sound by constructing a working record player
• Robotic Art: Program a robot to draw shapes and designs
• Fabric of Spacetime: Model how gravity holds the solar system together
• Cooking at the Speed of Light: Use a common microwave oven to calculate the speed of light
• Making Curves from Lines: Using calculus to make string art
• Tessellation Sensation Station: Learn about tessellations and add to one
• Crash! The Physics of Motion: Investigate the physics of a car crash using dynamics carts and motion detectors
• The Sine of Pasta: Create a beautiful wave using mathematics and pasta
• Blast off Chemistry: Explore the chemistry of rockets and other reactions
From Press Street Gardens:
• Botanical Inferences: Predicting patterns in nature using art and clues in the food we grow
• Giant Terrarium!: Using a greenhouse to monitor and collect earth science data
From Chevron:
• Virtual Offshore Experience: Use virtual reality to take a tour of Jack/ St. Malo, Chevron’s signature deepwater project in the Gulf of Mexico
The Academic Studio, paired with NOCCA’s historic half-day arts conservatory program, serves 250 of NOCCA’s 600-member student body. The Academic Studio has earned an “A” from Louisiana Department of Education in each of the four years it has been graded, school reps said. Chevron has been the lead funder in the development of the Academic Studio’s program and synergistic learning environment since Hurricane Katrina, they said.
“Chevron’s partnership with NOCCA has supported us as teachers, scientists and curricula creators with the tools we need to provide students with meaningful, highly connected and dynamic learning to increase students’ passion for math and science and hone professional skill sets,” says Dr. Kit Nelson, chair of the Academic Studio.
“At NOCCA, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math are further strengthened by Arts integration,” said Chevron Gulf of Mexico Public Affairs Manager Leah Brown. “Adding the “A” for “Arts” transforms STEM into STEAM, and allows creativity and critical thinking to walk parallel paths that lead to an increase in student achievement and innovation. We’re proud to support the Pop-Up Museum and to have played a part in establishing NOCCA’s Academic Studio and the Chevron Forum.”
